Serrano outworks Zarika; earns close win in rematch

Richard Quiñones (Journeymen Boxing) Amanda “Real Deal” Serrano earned a very close and hard fought six-round unanimous decision in her rematch against Fatuma Zarika in the main event Thursday night at The Space at Westbury, in Westbury, New York.

The judges saw it 60-55, 59-55, 58-56. JMB scored it 58-56 in favor of Serrano.

Serrano (25-1-1, 8ko’s) started off strong as usual, going right to the body against Zarika. She ended the round with a gorgeous flurry of body shots, mixed in with some power shots, but Zarika was able to whether the early storm.

In the second round, Zarika (24-12-1, 14ko’s) pressured Serrano and started to use the jab nicely. She caught Serrano walking in a couple of times, but the 26-year-old southpaw from Brooklyn, made adjustments late in the stanza. She was able to connect with a couple of short jabs and body shots that pushed back Zarika, who recovered from her first round jitters.

The next round was close as both fighters got off some good shots.

Zarika, though, started to find an opening with her body shots and peppered Serrano for most of the round. It was Zarika’s best round of the contest and she stunned Serrano several times in the stanza.

Over the final two rounds, Serrano seemed to slow down Zarika and her body shots started to add up on the scorecard. She seemed tired but she kept that jab going, slowing down Zarika and causing her to try to box from the outside.

Serrano has won 11 straight, while Zarika has now remained winless in 13 bouts outside of her native Kenya.